BOCHUM.
87
why these spaces should not be closed and so converted into corridors of the
normal kind. In the absence of corridors, however, the landings are often very
spacious, at least in the newer houses, and an area of 12 feet by 8 feet is not rare.
The water tap—there is never more than one—is not always within the dwelling ;
it may be on the landing, in which case two families at least share the same
supply. The privy or water closet (it is generally the former) is as a rule
found on the landing ; only in houses of a good class is it within the tenement.
It is noticeable that the balcony at the back of the house is now coming into
fashion at Bochum, after having had a long vogue in other towns of North-Western
Germany.
In spite of all old survivals the town of Bochum proper, the nucleus of the
present municipal area, is in large measure a town of modern buildings, and the
mass of the dwellings conform broadly to the regulations of the Building Police
(Bau-Polizei) in matters of accommodation and sanitary convenience. The
permissible height of buildings depends upon the width of the street. A height
of 32 feet 6 inches is allowed in all streets ; in streets between 32 feet 6 inches and
36 feet 8 inches wide, only buildings of two stories besides the ground floor and
39 feet in height may be erected ; where the street is between" 36 feet 8 inches
and 44 feet wide a height of 44 feet is allowed; yet here, again, there may only be
two stories besides the ground floor. For the rest, the number of stories is not
limited so long as the height of the building does not exceed the distance
between the opposite street building lines. The minimum height of a room
used for human habitation, whether living or bedroom, is 9 feet 2 inches, though
in the case of attic rooms with sloping walls it is sufficient if the mean height
reaches this measurement. By way of guarding against congested areas it is
provided that normally only three-fourths of a building plot may be built upon,
the remaining space being as a rule reserved as a courtyard or a garden.
Basement dwellings are only allowed if the windows rise at least 3 feet 3 inches
above the adjoining level. In one part of the town, in the neighbourhood of the
Rhenish Railway, only buildings not exceeding three stories, in blocks of two
houses, with a maximum front together of 97 feet 6 inches, and with garden
space before them, are allowed. The regulations require that there shall be a
closet for every two families in a house, and in the newer houses each floor has
two such adjuncts.
The following notes relate to tenements in typical working-class houses
visited :—
(1) A house containing two tenements on each floor. The entrance is at
the side and in this case the tenements have a common corridor, from which five
of the seven rooms are directly entered. The whole of the rooms are intercommunicable,
with the result that they are capable of combination in various
ways—two tenements of four and three rooms respectively, two of three rooms
or three of two rooms and a single room over, for one room has a separate
entrance from the landing and is a typical lodger’s room. The width of the
front rooms on the upper stories varies from 10 feet 1 inch toll feet 8 inches,
and that of the rooms at the back from 10 feet 5 inches to 12 feet 3 inches,
while the depth of the rooms at the front is 15 feet 6 inches, and at the back
12 feet 2 inches alongside the corridor and 16 feet 4 inches at the end of it.
The height of the rooms on the first three stories is 11 feet 4^ inches and
that of the attic rooms 9 feet 9 inches. The corridor has a length of about
25 feet and a width of 4 feet 2 inches, while the landing is about <S feet square.
The water closets are all on the intermediate landings, with ventilation direct
from the open air.
(2) The second house has five rooms on each landing, which can be combined
into two tenements of 3 and 2 rooms respectively, two tenements of
2 rooms each and one of a single room, or—a less probable case—a large
tenement of 4 rooms, with an odd room to be let separately. The landing
is here in the middle of the house and, as always, at the back, and it gives
direct entrance to three rooms. There is no corridor, but the rooms are larger
than those of the former house, though the height is the same.
A large proportion of the coal miners do not live in the town at all, but
outside in colonies near their work or in the villages adjacent. In the neighbourhood
of every pit are found rows and groups of houses of all kinds and sizes,
which have been built without plan or system for the miners’ accommodation.
